Deacon Floyd Ashley: 1944-2015

Deacon Floyd Allen Ashley, who served as Executive Assistant to two Bishops during a 14-year career at the Diocesan Pastoral Center, passed away Feb. 11. He was 70 years old.

Mass was celebrated Saturday, Feb. 14, Bishop Patrick J. Zurek, presiding, with priests of the Diocese of Amarillo, concelebrating. Inurnment was in Memory Gardens Cemetery.

Floyd Ashley was born April 15, 1944 in Tyler, the son of Ted and Dimple Ashley. He had many jobs in his lifetime. He worked through high school as a shoe salesman. He obtained the rank of Detective Sergeant with the Amarillo Police Department. For a time, Ashley was a truck driver for ICX, sold insurance for Prudential and worked a Baldwin Transport.

Raised in a Methodist/Baptist household, Ashley converted to Catholicism and was baptized on Jan. 5, 1992 at St. Mary’s Church (now St. Mary’s Cathedral), Amarillo. On Dec. 30, 2000, he was ordained to the Permanent Diaconate by then-Bishop John W. Yanta at St. Laurence Cathedral (now St. Laurence Church), Amarillo, a member of the fifth Permanent Diaconate class for the Diocese of Amarillo.

In 2001, Deacon Ashley was hired by Bishop Yanta to serve as his Executive Assistant, a job he continued with after the installation of Bishop Patrick J. Zurek as the Eighth Bishop of Amarillo on Feb. 22, 2008.

Deacon Ashley was a member of Knights of Columbus Council #1450 at St. Mary’s Cathedral and was also a Fourth Degree Knight with Father Dunn Assembly #1090. He was also active on several community boards, including the Downtown Women’s Center and Catholic Charities of the Texas Panhandle.

Friends, family and co-workers at the Diocesan Pastoral Center said Deacon Ashley was a great man of faith. He was a man who kept everyone who knew him smiling and laughing with his endless stories and jokes. Deacon Ashley was always there for his family and anyone in need. He will be remembered for his warm smile. Other than his wife, children and family, serving the Church was of the utmost importance in his life.

Deacon Ashley was preceded in death by his parents, Ted and Dimple Ashley; and a son, Donny Hutton.

Survivors include his wife, Susan Stalter Ashley; a sister, Beverly Davis of Dallas; two sons, John T. Ashley and David Ashley and his wife Shauna, all of Amarillo; two daughters, Jessica A. Guzman and her husband Enrique and JoLynn Hutton, all of Amarillo; a daughter-in-law, Christy Hutton; his father-in-law, Monsignor Calvin Stalter; 14 grandchildren Grace, Katie, Sara, Samantha, Eric, Deidre, Joshua, Ashley, Gabrielle, Tuff, Erika, Drake, Augustus and Kaden; six great-grandchildren with two on the way; and his beloved dog Francis Harold Patrick Ashley.

The family requests that memorials be made to the Diocese of Amarillo – Preparing the Way, P.O. Box 5644, Amarillo, 79117.